Exhibition: Disconnected Joints

NU+MAN presents Disconnected Joints featuring Dada Docot and Jong Pairez

This exhibition opens march 20, 2008 in Tokyo. Dada is a visual anthropologist and author of the interesting blog, "Here, there, and somewhere else." Below is an excerpt of the description of her upcoming show.

Dada Docot, a masters graduate of the University of Tokyo, who has combined random concepts about gender with the visual, is showing a video documentation of a performance staged at Shinagawa train station. In her work, she provides a critique of the general attitude of Japanese society towards foreigners in the country, highlighting an instance of racial profiling on a particularly "normal" day in Tokyo.

For more information visit the exhibition's website:

Link to Disconnected Joints
http://disconnectedjoints.kulturavolunteers.org/

Update: Documentary Film "Yasukuni"

(Movie poster; image borrowed from China.org.cn)

There is a lot of buzz about the documentary film, Yasukuni, that I wrote about last October. Apparently the filmmaker received some sort of Japanese government subsidy to make the film. With this as a possible excuse, some Japanese lawmakers got a special sneak preview of the film to judge its tone and make sure it is not overly anti-Japanese. Read more in the story reported in today's Japan Today.

Link to story in Japan Today
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/430857

Also, apparently the filmmakers have been threatened by Japanese right wing groups.

Link to story at Yahoo News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080220/film_nm/japan_dc_1#

A synopsis of the film can be found at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival webpage.

Link to Yasukuni
http://filmguide.festival.asianamericanmedia.org/tixSYS/2008/filmguide/eventnote.php?EventNumber=1124¬epg=1

Many blogs have been reporting on this subject as well. Here is an interesting post from Tokyomango.

Link to "Yasukuni: A Documentary Explores the Ethics of War Memory" at Tokyomango
http://www.tokyomango.com/tokyo_mango/2008/03/post.html

The film is scheduled to be released in Japan in April.

Japanese Films at the SFIAAFF

If you are by chance in San Francisco, be sure to check out the San Francisco Asian American International Film Festival (March 13 - 23). If you aren't in San Francisco, check out this link to see a list of Japan-related films.

Link to list of Japanese films at SFIAAFF
http://filmguide.festival.asianamericanmedia.org/tixSYS/2008/filmguide/title.php/detail/?Category=ALL&FilterVenue=ALL&Genre=JAPAN&ShowShorts=Y

Announcements: NASA and Radical Theater

Two announcements for you today. NASA contacted me and asked me to post the first, the second I comes from the Society for Cultural Anthropology listserv. Both sound fascinating and should be of interest to students of visual anthropology.

1. Announcement from NASA:

Attention grad and undergrad anthro students: Please consider submitting an article to the new anthropology e-journal sponsored by the National Assoc. of Student Anthropologists (NASA). The call for papers (pasted below) is organized around the theme for the AAA 2008 Annual Meetings. Completed manuscripts of 1000 words should be submitted by April 21, 2008 to nasaejournal@gmail.com. See below for more information...

The National Association of Student Anthropologists (NASA) will launch its first online publication, The NASA e-Journal, under the banner of the 2008 American Anthropological Association conference theme: "Inclusion, Collaboration, and Engagement."

We seek scholarly submissions from undergraduate and graduate students worldwide about the application of anthropological theories and methods outside of academia or across disciplines for the purpose of exploring, problematizing, or addressing social problems. Have you worked in an internship, co-op or another job as a student anthropologist and wish to reflect on how you relied on your anthropological training? Perhaps you collaborated with students from other disciplines at a volunteer organization and seek to describe the value you added from an anthropological perspective? Is there a paper you submitted for a service-learning class where you addressed a social problem using anthropological methods? Have you done fieldwork in a community where you sought to create positive social change in the process of gathering data? Tell us about it! Scholarly articles should be 1,000 words in length and will be subject to a double blind review process.

We also welcome innovative commentary submissions to the e-Journal. Commentaries are opinion or avant-garde pieces of work which are the original work of the authors. These submissions are to express the next generation of anthropologists' ideas, goals and beliefs of the direction our discipline should head, be it locally, nationally or globally. We seek a plurality of voices on this issue and intend to raise awareness among fellow students as well as more established anthropologists about the direction our discipline is heading. Commentary submissions might include such mediums as written pieces (1,000 words in length), photo stories (10 photos + 1,000 words of commentary in length) and videos/YouTube clips (10-minute maximum in duration + 1,000 words of commentary in length).

Submission Guidelines:

Please submit a full 1,000 word manuscript for consideration by midnight EST on April 21, 2008 along with any accompanying materials.

Authors should complete their submissions according to the AAA style guide (http://aaanet.org/pubs/style_guide.htm).

Submissions should be saved in Microsoft Word ".doc" format with the file title being the first author's last name and first initial. (example: HebertM.doc)

We invite authors to provide drawings, graphs and maps to enhance the visual component of each article. These should be included as separate attachments in the email. Graphics should be saved as ".jpg" format. The file name should be the first authors last name, first initial and then the number of the photo. (example: HebertM1.jpg) Please also include reference in your text where graphics should be placed by inserting the above identifier in the text.

Videos should be provided as a link (if located on a site such as YouTube) or included as a graphics file in a readily viewable format such as QuickTime or Windows Media Player.

Please send submissions to the e-Journal editorial team with the subject heading "NASA Manuscripts - Vol. 1" at nasaejournal@gmail.com.

Authors will be notified regardless if their work has been selected for publication or not. We look forward to publishing submissions for Volume 1 of the NASA e-Journal in the fall of 2008 and spring of 2009.


2. Radical Theater

RADICAL THEATER AS CULTURAL INTERVENTION: Exploring art and politics in anthropology's center-stage.

Call For Proposals - Radical Theater Plays

This is a call for short, one-act plays that address contemporary social issues in a globalizing world. We invite you to read or perform a 10-minute act exploring the effects of drama on the AAA 2008 theme of "Inclusion, Collaboration & Engagement.? We propose using the potential efficacy of radical, open theater to broaden audiences and engage community participation in amore public and active anthropology. We blur conventional distinctions between text and performance, stage and auditorium, performer and spectator, action and dialogue, and art and life. Theater has the potential to stir debate with our many publics both within the humanities and the natural and social sciences, and outside of academia because of the performatic and symbolic efficacy of applause, laughter, tears, and indignation! As anthropologists and theater practitioners, we use radical theater to affect public policy and create social change, transforming future actions of our audiences, communities, and research partners. Democracy, education, environmental justice, health equity, peace-making, and human rights are core matter of story lines we enunciate. Our theatrical visions are inhabited by characters whose diverse voices, gazes, and epistemic perspectives enlarge our center stage, empowering communities and making anthropology increasingly relevant to the global community. Theater and anthropology collaborate to engage the general public into a dialogue for dramatic change.

Please send your 250-word abstract, including title of play and your affiliation to:

Mariana Ferreira
marianaf@sfsu.edu

or

Ariane Dalla Déa
tocantins512@mac.com

Karma or Photographic Revenge?

I was standing on the platform at my local train station when I noticed a camera lens pointed directly and menacingly at my head a mere three feet away. I felt violated and scared, as if a gun was pointed at me. Instinctively I turned away, offering the back of my head. Probably not the best tactic if it was in fact a gun. As I heard giggles from my attacker(s), I realized that I was packing as well. I pulled out my Xacti High Definition Digital Movie camera from the pouch at my side, flipped the screen open and the lens cap off and twirled around to find my attacker(s) gone. I ran about, searching the platform until I came across a young couple. The male was taking various shots, showing off the results to his female accomplice who in turned laughed and then hit him in the head. This process was repeated a few times before my train came. I quickly aimed as the train approached and was able to get a couple of shots off.



They never saw it coming. I was able to board the train without anyone being none the wiser of my crime. It was self defense I told myself...

In class we have been discussing the ethics and responsibilities of photographing people in public. I have written about this dilemma before. Susan Sontag (1973:14) likens a camera to a gun. We load, aim and shoot. We can do as much harm to people with a photograph as we can with a gun. We have to act with responsibility when handling cameras and using them in public. Ideally we want to talk with the people we shoot and ask their permission. Sometimes this isn't possible. How do we deal with such situations? What are our ethical responsibilities as visual anthropologists?

My students have also been dealing with this topic in their blogs of late. Many have been frustrated when people do not give them permission to photograph them. Some resort to quick or long distance sniping. Some take advantage of occasions when others (or everyone) is photographing the event. Are these tactics appropriate? Do these tactics result in satisfactory and useful images? Are the people we purport to study (and protect) being harmed?

So why did the young couple attempt to shoot me at the train station? Was it karma or photographic revenge for all of my visual anthropological transgressions? Most likely the young couple were playing and wanted a photo of a strange gaijin. But it does give me pause to consider what I - what we - are doing.

Let's be careful out there, people.

Keitai Robots?

An update from an earlier post on robots in Japan... As if Japanese cell phones didn't have enough functions already... Check this out at Japan Today (the above image is borrowed from the same website).

Link to Japan Today: Picture of the Day
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/picture/3342

Read more at Weird Asia News
http://www.weirdasianews.com/2008/03/02/robotic-cell-phone-friends/

We are coming out...

Visual Anthropology of Japan has been announced in Anthropologi.info, a site deidcated to anthropology with posts/announcements/information in English, German and Norwegian. The site has a useful blogroll of anthro sites. Anthrpologi.info is a nice move in the direction of a true world anthropology. Many thanks, Lorenz!

Check out "our" announcment:
http://www.antropologi.info/blog/anthropology/anthropology.php?p=3030&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

Everything Is Blurry: Photographing Deaf People in Japan

What do all the photos in this post have in common? At least part of the picture is blurry. And why? The Japanese people pictured here are deaf. That means part of their body is being used to communicate while I was attempting to photograph them. Japanese Sign Language entails more than movements of hands and arms - it uses the entire body. In the photo above, I was attempting to take a photo of the young woman when at the last minute the man stuck his face in the foreground. He was very amused at the effect. Coincidently, he is a photographer...


I was attempting a portrait in this second shot as well as the subject is very colorful. However people walk in front of the camera, again at the last minute, fingers, hands and arms moving in active conversation.


The setting of the first three photos was a sign language workshop in Hirakata-shi given by two deaf people from Yamagata Prefecture. One of the activities was a modified version of jan-ken, or rock-scissors-paper. This was a very fun and animated game. The loser of the jan-ken match had to make a JSL sign using the handshape of either rock, scissors or paper (depending on which handshape they threw). If they were able to do a sign within a few seconds, they could continue in the match.


This last shot I took two weeks ago at an Okinawan izakaya in Osaka. Again, I was with a deaf group. One of the participants is a professional wrestler. He is the only deaf wrestler in his organization. I asked how he communicated with others during matches and he replied that he uses gestures and body language. I suspect he can vocalize to some extent as well. I also imagine he is a better communicator than most professional wrestlers, but of course this is my own bias... Anyway, he was promoting his upcoming matches and so had his mask with him. In this shot, he is pictured "wrestling" with Momo-chan, the tiny dog belonging to the master of the izakaya. Due to the continuing pet boom, these little creatures are almost everywhere.

Since he is promoting his show, I think it is OK to reveal his name: エロ桜馬, which can be translated as Erotic Cherry Horse. For more information (and tickets), see the link below (in Japanese). Apparently deaf people can get discounted tickets.

Link to Japanese professional wrestling website Toroumon.com
http://www.toroumon.com/

Cute Trash: Not Enough Tots for Toys?

It's burnable trash day here in Kadoma City, Osaka, Japan. It is a challenge to figure out exactly what garbage is considered to be burnable, what is plastic, and what falls into other special categories. It is said that 80% of Japan's garbage is burned, so the separation of various types of trash is especially important, and complicated. Japan is moving towards more recycling, simply because it needs to. Luckily, the separation of garbage/recyclables in Kadoma is not as complicated as it is in Yokohama. See the following story and be sure to view the accompanying slide show as well.

Link to How Do Japanese Dump Trash? Let Us Count the Myriad Ways
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/12/international/asia/12garbage.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

In Kadoma, we put out bottles and cans on Mondays, burnable trash on Tuesdays and Fridays and plastic trash on Thursdays. Wednesday changes every week; sometimes it is for PET bottles, sometimes newspapers and cardboard, sometimes glass, sometimes large items. See the rules in detail below.

Link to Kadoma City Garbage/Recycling Schedule (in Japanese)
http://www.city.kadoma.osaka.jp/service/gomi0.html



But which day does one dispose of toys? How sad to see toys being tossed. Is this a consequence of the declining birthrate? Not enough kids to play with toys? As the society grays, is there no longer a need for toys? See the sources below for information about Japan's population.

Link to Japan child numbers at record low
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6624049.stm

Link to Statistical Handbook of Japan, Chapter 2, Population
http://www.stat.go.jp/English/data/handbook/c02cont.htm#cha2_2



Is there a cute trash day? Cute is more than a "boom" (passing fad), some have argued that Japan has a "culture of cuteness." But with less children, even cute things need to be tossed. Is it only me, or isn't it heartbreaking to see such a stuffed animal (Pooh-chan!) get thrown away?

Link to Cute sells in Japan
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13320352/

This post went off in many tangents - all this caused by mere observations of garbage... It goes to show that you really can tell a lot about a people by the things they throw away.

Post Script: As mentioned above, 80% of Japan's garbage gets burned. What happens to the rest? It gets buried and/or exported to poor South-East Asian countries. For more information on garbage disposal in Japan see the following sources:

Link to "Free Trade Cannot Include Toxic Waste" on the Basel Action Network webpage (2007)
http://www.ban.org/ban_news/2007/070216_toxic_waste.html

Link to "Garbage Disposal in Japan" on the Trade and Environment Database website (2001)
http://www.american.edu/TED/japan-garbage.htm

Robots are taking over Japan...

With a declining birthrate and aging society, who will do all the work? Many have said Japan will have to allow more women to work, or allow more immigration. For various reasons, these options are not so popular with the powers that be. So what to do? Make robots. This is not a joke. See the following story on MSNBC (the above photo is borrowed from this source as well):

Japan looks to a robot future
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23438322/wid/11915829?GT1=40000

Be sure to check out the slide show as well - lots more interesting images...